Interview with Mr Herbalist of Reggae Rajahs

After having recently scored a tour in Europe, Reggae Rajahs did not get time to sleep judging by their trip to our hometown and then the NH7’s pre parties’ shows across the country. Their Shillong show was definitely a daunting one. This shit was unexpected, but it was really an awesome night where everyone else enjoyed a thorough dose of some perfectly-crafted dancing oriented reggae dub music. One moment of the gig spotted many Shillong girls hovering around the stage during their performance and a couple of them had even gone to the extent of dancing at a table top right next to the Rajahs console. It’s sort of a cool thing seeing that kind of response but what’s even cooler is the fact that although our editor was totally baked, he still has the steam to catch up with “Mr. Herbalist” one half of Reggae Rajahs in a one on one candid chat.

Mr. Herbalist- Shillong was really mad, it was mental, it was fantastic gig much better than what we expected, actually we expected a good gig in Shillong because Reggae music is big in Shillong, it’s not like we have to push it as hard as we might have to push it in other places. But still the reception was absolutely mad, you can see my shirt is totally drenched of sweat and I hope we can get back here as soon as possible.

–For how long have you guys been active in the Indian Indie Scene?

Mr. Herbalist– Reggae Rajahs has been into existence for 3 years now, the three members of Reggae Rajahs, “Diggy Dang”, “Dj MOcity” and me “Mr. Herbalist”. Have been in the crew right from the start so… yeah it’s 3 years.

-There actually 3 of you guys right…. but why did we see just two of you tonight, what happened to your other member?

Mr. Herbalist– Well, uhh.. MOcity had to go back to Iraq, he has to sort of something’s out there, he’s actually from Iraq so.. he had to go there to attend to some family matters but he’ll be back soon.

-Alright… what’s in store for you guys after this gig, how many more tours or shows are you guys doing this year?

Mr. Herbalist– I mean this year the season has just started, so I hope we can get a nice momentum going as we play, we’re playing at all the NH7’s Pre Parties so that’s kind of big for us. And yeah! We’ll be doing like.. um… y’know for each and every NH7 Pre party we’re bringing down some European and U.K. Reggae artist and we’ll be touring with them, ummm.. for a few cities at a time.

-You guys, have just got back from a European tour, could you explain to us your experience and what all have you gained and learnt from that trip?

Mr. Herbalist– Europe was just a fantastic learning experience for us more than anything, y’know, I mean we didn’t really go there to show off our skills, because… (Pauses) I mean, we did in the sense we had fun but actually it was more of a learning experience. So… I mean it’s tough to say but our shows in Oslo, was fantastic and our show in Budapest was really, really good and in terms of learning experience Bratislava, Slovakia was a big learning experience for us, there was this big reggae festival that we attended over there and we actually played that and there was a lot of experienced artist from the U.K., Jamaica, Europe…. So we learnt a lot and that was really valuable for us.

-Whoa that’s fantastic! Moving on, how is the current New Delhi scene in terms of its progression musically? And also kindly elucidate on the reggae music foundations and roots in New Delhi?

Mr. Herbalist– The general EDM scene is primarily dominated by commercial music whether it is bollywood music or house music and pop music that type of thing.. umm…. But Delhi is a place where a revolution is happening right now, in terms of alternative music, we have all types of music popping up there Ska music, Jazz music then Reggae music, Dance Hall music and all types of music it’s become a hot bed of activity for bands and for musicians and it’s a very exciting time to be there. And yeah! In terms of reggae music, I think as far as I know we’re the only ones who’re solely playing just reggae, focused on reggae, ummm…. But y’know we have a few people popping up from around the country like SKA VENGERS they do a little bit of reggae they’re based in Delhi, DR. DUB who’s based in Hyderabad, LOW RIDERZ CREW who’re based in Bangalore, so they’re a few reggae dub acts coming up and we’re doing what we can to support them because that’s our mission really, it’s to spread reggae music across the country.

-What catapulted you guys to venture out into doing Reggae Music, what was that one motivating factor that pushed you guys to start up such a thing you know?

Mr. Herbalist– I.. I can’t really tell you one motivating force.. It’s just one thing that me, Diggy Dang and Mocity had really y’know been passionate about, umm.. I mean we saw a gap in the scene, in the market, and we decided to take advantage of it and when it comes to motivation, I think this trip to Europe has motivated us like never before and we are ready to spread the music all over the country.

-Aside from being in Reggae Rajahs what else do you do, and are you looking forward at turning this project into your full time wage?

Mr. Herbalist– I’m trying to make this more and more into a full time job. And I also make films, that’s a… y’know.. uhhh… big part of my personality I love films, I love directing and I love conceptualizing, I love writing as well, currently I’m in the process of making a documentary film that I’ll be shooting in Ajmer, later in the year, I’ve made one documentary film , so yeah! Film is my passion and I’m trying to do it side by side.

-Aight man! Lastly a message to the Shillongites…..

Mr. Herbalist– Well, Big Up to each and every one of you that came up to Cloud 9 tonight, it was an ABSOLUTELY wicked show, we had a great time and reception from y’all and I think in terms of cities where we’ve played for the first time Shillong must be the best, we’re definitely looking forward to come back here by popular demand, by your request we’ll be back here as soon as possible.